ABSTRACT

At locations where the soil is exposed to high and varying forces, for example at a dike or around a mining area, additional parameters for stability analysis should often be measured. Determination of the undrained shear strength is a commonly used method to define soil stability. The Field Vane Test (FVT) can be used for in-situ measurement and evaluation of the shear strength. It can be deployed in soft soils, but also in fine-grained soils such as silts, organic peat, tailings and other geomaterials where a prediction of the undrained and remolded shear strength is required. This paper describes a FVT system called Icone Vane, which is part of the Icone® data acquisition concept that is based on fully digital data transfer and meets the requirements of ASTM D2573/D2573M and other FVT standards. Specific details of fieldwork with the Icone Vane performed at tailings dams are presented.